Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra was involved in an ugly brawl on an Emirates flight to Dubai with a co-passenger who objected to her using a phone as the plane was about to take off, says a HT report.“I told Priyanka Chopra she was risking the lives of her fellow passengers,“ Dr Fayaz Shawl, 60, an Indian origin cardiologist, said. “But she started abusing me.“
“He is an attention seeker who started filming me on his phone despite my objections. He was drunk and threatened to call his friend, the Sheikh of Dubai, and get me into trouble. I challenged him to do that as I broke no rules.He later apologised," Priyanka Chopra, 28, retorted.She filed a complaint of misconduct against Shawl.
There was no response from Emirates Airlines on the February 20 incident.Dr Fayaz Shawl, 60, a Kashmir-born interventional cardiologist in the US, with high-profile patients such as UK's Queen Elizabeth and Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was travelling first class in the Emirates flight from Mumbai to Dubai on February 20.
He and Priyanka got into a shouting match with abuses and threats being hurled, to get each other arrested.
Says Priyanka: "It is disgusting that celebrities like us get a raw deal at the hands of attention seekers, so easily. These allegations are a bunch of lies. That man is a lunatic. If it hadn't been for his old age, I would have slapped him for how he behaved with me on the flight. He tried to film me on his phone despite my requests not to do it.
"He was clearly drunk and was tried to make an issue out of me talking on the phone. I've travelled a million times and I didn't break any rules. The aircraft was on the tarmas when I finished an important call.
"By then this man was screaming. He dropped names and said he knows the Sheikh in Dubai and would get me deported. I took out my credit card and challenged him to make a call to the Sheikh right there from the aircraft's paid phone.
"He behaved in a cheap manner and said 'I know you Bollywood starlet types'. That made me lose it because I value my dignity.
"He showed me a video with Dilip Sir (Dilip Kumar). I complained to the staff and they conveyed it to the captain. When the flight landed, he came to me and apologized thrice. But I didn't accept his apology.
"If he is talking to the media now, it is just to seek attention. You can check with anyone on that flight, including Leander Paes. I would never insult a legend like Dilip Kumar. I spoke to Saira ma'am,. She totally stands by me on this."
Says Dr Fayaz Shawl: "I usually take a chartered plane to fly to Dubai. But on the request of Dilip Kumar's family, I had to go to their residence in Pali Hill to check his heart condition and missed my flight. So I boarded this Emirates flight.
"Priyanka occupied the window seat and she was on the phone even when the flight started to take off. The staff was not objecting as they were in awwe of the star. So I passed a note to her to stop. I know of two air crashes that took place due to phone signals interfering with air control.
"At this Priyanka turned to me and shouted:'Who the hell are you to stop me?' I replied: 'Lady, had you been in the US you would have been handcuffed for this.' She replied : "F*** US'.
"I told her I am a doctor and saw veteran actor Dilip Kumar in Mumbai. She said: 'Who the hell cares about that old man? ' I said: 'You have no right to endanger my life and that of 250 other people.'.
"She then said: 'Let's go to the pilot.'. I told her when we get off at Dubai I could get her arrested for this.
"I have video clips of this incident as I recorded it on my phone. I also filmed co-passengers who said on camera they were scared when she was talking on the phone in-flight."
Said Leander Paes, who was on the same flight: "I was sitting one seat in front of Priyanka. I was snoozing and didn;t know there was a situation till I heard shouting. It appears that the guy had an issue with her being on the phone. That's totally absurd.
"Had she been violating the rules, the stewards would have taken action. In fact, they later apologized to Priyanka for the behaviour of this guy. who appeared to have had one drink too many. I think he was just looking to seek attention."
